Building a Foundation of Health

In our many years of breeding, we’ve always prioritized the health of our poodles above all else. That can mean several things— from delaying pictures, vaccinations, go-home dates, or retiring parents who struggle in the program. The Foundation of Health is paramount in our breeding program, and we are excited to share how we keep our poodles as healthy as possible in our care.

Olivia & Zion’s “Chloe”, Now Owned by Sharon in ID

Growth Charts & Weight Sheets

From birth, we start carefully keeping track of weights on our puppies. We are very conscious about how much weight they’re gaining, or if they stop gaining weight. In the toy size-range this can be especially important. Hypoglycemia is a very real issue, and we want to prevent our puppies from ever encountering that if possible. For our program, these preventative measures start with healthy growth. We take our puppies’ weights very seriously— we keep a weight sheet that is updated weekly, so that we can keep an eye on their growth, and fortifying that growth as much as possible while they’re in our care. If a puppy doesn’t gain very much weight from week-to-week, we reschedule any vaccines we would’ve given them and also fortify their growth by giving them extra calories through FortiCal, Extra Soft Food, Shredded Chicken, Extra time with Mom, Formula, etc. We will do anything to promote healthy growth for our puppies!

Vaccination & Deworming Schedule

As stated on our website, we reserve the right to change our puppies’ vaccination schedule according to the health and needs of each puppy. We try to stick to the vaccine manufacturer’s schedule as much as possible, but when it comes to our puppies and how much experience we have with raising them, we want to make sure their little bodies are adequately prepared to receive vaccinations. It can be stressful, and any stressor can lead to a health-related event. Luckily we are able to stick to that schedule for the most part, but for our smaller toy-sized puppies, we go off of a weight-adjusted vaccination schedule.

Foxy, One of Our Parent Dogs

Our adults are also kept regular for their vaccinations and deworming. We work closely with our local vet to ensure the health and needs of each of our dogs are met. They are dewormed weekly and receive heart worm medicine every month. Each adult gets their yearly vaccinations too. The health of our program rests on the health of our adult dogs after all!

Health-Testing & Evaluating Our Parents

We are firm believers that the #1 thing you can do for your program is health-testing all of your parents. It’s extremely important to know what health issues, if any, your parent dogs may have. If you have the means, test through multiple companies. Some companies may not be entirely accurate, and it’s important to get as much data on your dogs as possible when making important breeding decisions for your program. We’ve had a great experience using the company Animal Genetics, but we supplement those test results with companies like GenSol, Paw Print Genetics, and Embark. The health of our parent dogs is paramount. For us breeders, knowing what traits they carry is half the battle, and it is so important to improving the overall breed you are working with.

We also carefully work with our vet to evaluate our dogs’ OFA results at the proper ages. We don’t breed, nor do we recommend breeding dogs who have poor OFA results— such as patellas or hips. Of course poor patellas and hips can develop from jumping too much, or other physical strain, but generally speaking it can also be a sign of poor physical health that could pass onto their future puppies.

Grooming & Maintaining Physical Health

Heidi & Zion’s “Zara” now owned by Habekost Family

Apart from predisposed genetic traits, a big part of our dogs’ general health is based in how we care for them on a day-to-day basis. This includes how often you groom them, like how long you go before clipping nails, if you allow tangles/matts to grow on their coats, or even just giving them regular baths and brush-outs. Even though some dogs may seem like they hate being groomed, it’s also a big part in bonding close with them and keeping them happy and making them feel cared for. Grooming is as much a part of physical health as it is mental health. Each dog needs to feel loved and cared for, and we can say that our dogs are SPOILED! They are all groomed every 6-8 weeks. They love the attention they get when they get their spa days, and we love seeing them so happy!

Another huge part of our dogs’ general health is taking them to the vet and dentist for regular check-ups. We always make an effort to evaluate the state of our dogs’ dental and physical health. If we see them walking funny, we go off to the vet, and we think it’s incredibly important that our puppy owners do the same! You never know what kind of issue there might be, so it’s great to have a working relationship with your vet, so you can have peace of mind that your dog is in its prime!

Puppies of the Week

Meet Miss Stella & Miss Luna! They both have super sweet personalities with a moderate temperament and a dash of playful energy. Both of them would do great in any home.

**Update - Both of these sweet girls have found their forever homes!